1. Field
Disclosed herein are soft magnetic iron/cobalt/chromium-based alloys and processes for manufacturing semi-finished products from these alloys, in particular magnetic components for actuator systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Certain soft magnetic iron/cobalt/chromium-based alloys are disclosed in DE 44 42 420 A1, for example. Such alloys can have high saturation magnetisation and can therefore be used to develop electromagnetic actuator systems with high forces and/or small dimensions. A typical use of these alloys is as cores for solenoid valves, such as for example solenoid valves for fuel injection in internal combustion engines, or as armatures in electrical motors.
Material machinability is an important factor in the manufacture of parts to be used as soft magnetic parts for actuators. It has been shown that iron/cobalt/chromium-based alloys present high levels of wear when subjected to chip-removing machining processes. This can be shown by the quality of the machined surface. In certain applications better surface quality is desirable.
Improving the machinability of iron-based alloys through the addition by alloying of elements such as Mn, S and Pb is already known. However, these elements can present the disadvantage that, as described in “Soft Magnetic Materials II Influence of Sulfur on Initial Permeability of Commercial 49% Ni—Fe alloys”, D. A. Coiling et al, J. Appl. Phys. 40 (19 69) 1571, for example, they can reduce the magnetic properties of soft magnetic alloys.